The present invention relates to a shoe with an active air-conditioning device.
In the following description, the tern xe2x80x9cshoexe2x80x9d is used to indicate, indifferently, shoes, boots, hiking boots, ski boots, army boots, and any other type of footwear covering a wide range of uses.
As is known, numerous types of shoes are currently marketed featuring a built-in ventilation device for circulating a stream of air inside the shoe to air the foot.
Currently used ventilation devices are normally built into the sole of the shoe, and normally comprise: a pump unit activated by the wearer as he or she walks; and two connecting conduits for connecting the pump unit to the inside of the shoe and to the outside environment respectively. The pump unit is normally defined by a variable-volume pumping chamber formed inside the heel of the sole, which is obviously made of rubber, and by two one-way valves located at the inlets of the two connecting conduits. The one-way valves may be so oriented as to direct a stream of air inwards or outwards of the shoe alongside cyclic variations in the volume of the pumping chamber induced by the alternating weight exerted on the sole.
A major drawback of ventilation devices of the above type is that of simply circulating air inside the shoe to maintain an acceptable level of humidity, but with substantially no change in the temperature of the air inside the shoe.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an air-conditioning device designed to eliminate the aforementioned drawbacks.
According to the present invention, there is provided a shoe, characterized by comprising an air-conditioning device for maintaining the temperature inside the shoe at a value selectively above or below the temperature of the outside environment.